Misunderstandings lead to bad pranks
by samettikettu
Summary: Brothers like to prank each other but when there's a misunderstanding - things tend to go wrong... [ASL brotherhood / One-shot / Completed / AU]


**Characters ©** Eiichiro Oda

 **Story ©** samettikettu

 **Beta ©** raftelcalling  & aye-i-could-do-that

Ace and Sabo are 17yo and Luffy is 14 in this. :3c I'm thinking about starting an ASL one-shot series, how does that sound like?

Luffy's probably playing Amnesia, Outlast or Five nights at Freddy's, I'm not too sure. Ace and Sabo are huge jerks in this. But they're all alive ayy *fingerguns outta here*

The plotting might seem a bit off and the scenes weird, but I started to write this while I was having bad back pains and continued to write even though my back felt like exploding. I'm better now, I have a medication and doctor's diagnosis for acute lower back and waist pain also known as lumbago. I'm on a sick leave for this week, and as much as I love spending time at home and doing nothing, this is pure torture bc I can't lay on my bed or sit anywhere for long time periods. Hope I get better by the end of the week,,,

* * *

Luffy loved video games more than anything.  
He'd spent hours in his room on his computer, playing some game one of friends had recommended him. He'd only come out to grab something to eat or drink, or to use the bathroom. He wouldn't go see his brothers or join them in the living room and catch up with them. And if his brothers ever tried to come in his room, he'd jump and spin around to stare at them like a deer caught in headlights. It was like he didn't want them there!

They had knocked and told the boy they would be coming in, but Luffy was wearing his headphones so he couldn't hear them. Last time when Sabo had gone in to bring the teen his dinner, Luffy had sat in his dark room, eyes glued to the screen. When Sabo had put his hand on the teen's shoulder, he had had barely any time to register the teen jump two meters in the air and turn around to stare at him like he had offended him in some way. The tray had been placed securely on the table and Sabo had stammered when he had pointed it. Luffy had only spared it a glance, his wide eyes coming back to stare at him.

It was really annoying.  
And horribly rude of him.  
Sabo didn't say anything about the matter, if asked he'd shrug and say their brother was free to do what he wanted in his spare time, he was old enough anyway. He'd say that with his usual smile, though it wouldn't reach his eyes. Ace used to be grumpy and ready to barge into his little brother's room and take the whole thing away. But getting into a fight with Luffy was the last thing he wanted to do.

The hours their 14-year-old little brother spent in his room, occupied with video games, ignoring his homework and family time with his brothers was bad enough, but the pranks he did to them were even worse.

Playing pranks on each other was something the three brothers had been doing for many years. They were always good natured fun, always ended up with them sprawled on the sofa, laughing their butts off.

The longest prank had lasted for a week, Ace and Luffy had moved some of Sabo's stuff or hidden them away in the most ridiculous places (why was his laptop in the fridge?). Sabo hadn't suspected a thing, thought he had just misplaced his stuff but when he heard his phone's new ringtone, which happened to be _Never Gonna Give You Up_ , he _knew_.

He had barged into Ace's room where Luffy laid on the bed, calling Sabo from his cell phone, too familiar shit-eating grin on his lips. Ace was on the floor, biting his lip to stop himself from laughing.

Just good natured fun!

Something that kept them from falling into boredom. But then Luffy had been sucked into the world of video game horrors and he got inspired by them and boy - the pranks got bad.

He'd creep on them during the night and scare them. Ace had once gotten up at night to use the bathroom when Luffy had spooked him from the bathtub. The boy had been hiding behind the shower curtain with a creepy mask on. Needless to say, Ace was not happy to clean the toilet at 2AM.

Sabo had once come home and discovered a severed mannequin head in the refrigerator. Luffy had smeared tomato sauce on it, to make it look bloody. Chunks of the sauce fell from the fridge when Sabo had opened the door. Worried neighbors had rang the doorbell after they had heard the teen's scream.

These sorts of pranks kept going on and on and the two older brothers had had it. The pranks weren't funny anymore, and they had almost gotten used to finding something grotesque in their apartment, as Luffy's attempt of a joke. At some point the jumpscares ended but they _believed_ Luffy had a new scary prank in store for them…

Ace and Sabo wanted pay back but didn't know how, until Garp had marched in with his own keys. (Where he had gotten them, they didn't know. Most certainly not from them.)

"Pack your things lads, we're going off to a vacation!" he had warned them with a smile that promised pain and suffering if they didn't do as told. Garp was taking them to the family cottage in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere. The place was peaceful and beautiful at this time of year, but it got cold and dark quickly. Their cottage neighbor was a nice, middle-aged woman the three had known since their childhood. Dadan used to babysit them while Garp was fishing or just left the cottage to do some work. The woman was nice, almost like an aunt to them.

The three brothers had sprawled around, collecting their things and clothes to stuff into their bags. During the packing Ace had come to Sabo's room, an ugly grin on his face.

"Ace? Shouldn't you be packing?"

"Already finished",

"Then what-"

"Lu isn't taking his computer with him. He's leaving everything here."

"That's nice! We can finally spent an entire weekend together!" Sabo smiled, closing his training bag. The grin widened, the blond brother didn't like the look that much.

" _Exactly…_ "

* * *

Luffy was humming happily in the backseat, staring at the quickly passing scenery. He loved their cabin, it was so much fun! And they'd see Dadan too!

The teen bounced happily on his seat, excitement radiating from him. He'd hear Garp laugh from the front seat, he looked up to the rear-view mirror and grinned at Grap. The old man's grin was almost identical to his.

"Excited to visit the old cabin, boy?"

"I am I am!" Luffy laughed. Garp's eyes moved from him to the older teen sitting next to him, then to the other one on the passenger's seat.

"Wish your brothers shared some of your excitement."

Ace turned his head to look through the side window, not paying any attention to Garp as Sabo rolled his eyes. Luffy frowned. His fingers moved to grasp Sabo's sleeve and he gave it a gentle tug. The older teen paid him no attention, instead he turned to stare at the outside world like Ace. The youngest of the group blinked at the odd behaviour.

"So Luffy! What have you been doing? I haven't heard from you for a while, your brothers said you've been locked inside your room for the past two months and wouldn't come out", Garp glanced at the mirror, slowing down as they reached the old forest driveway.

"Usopp introduced me to this cool game and I haven't really had the time to do anything else", Luffy said, his hands wringing the hem of his t-shirt. He looked up from his hands when he heard Ace snort and Sabo click his tongue.

Garp raised his eyebrow at the oldests' odd behavior.

"I hope you haven't been only playing this video game, they aren't good for your health."

"Nah, it's, it's cool! It's really scary though…"

"Scaring yourself isn't good, Luffy", Garp was staring at him via the rear-view mirror, his eyes uncharacteristically hard. "A little of fright is fine but if you keep scaring yourself on a daily basis, your mind won't be able to separate things from each other. You will begin to fear even the smallest things and the noises and nightmares will keep you awake during the night…"

Luffy licked his lips nervously, eyes lowering to his hands. Garp was a police officer and had seen some crazy stuff during his younger days, Luffy knew that.

He nodded his head and his grandfather gave a short laugh.

"But now that we're all together, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

Garp's booming laughter filled the car, Luffy felt his lips tug into a smile. Next to him, Sabo glared hard at his own reflection. His eyes moved to stare at the other window on the front, Ace was grinning darkly.

 **xxxxxx**

The cabin was just as they remembered it being.

Garp had used his vacations to take down the grass and fix the leaking roof. Luffy had ran off to investigate, leaving his brothers to carry their bags inside the house with Garp. The boy's laughter sounded light and so happy, Sabo wasn't sure when was the last time he had heard it.

"Luffy seems happy", he said as he put down his and Luffy's bags. Ace said nothing as he dropped his bags and went to lie on his bed. The three of them had the second floor all to themselves. Downstairs was the kitchen, living room, a small bathroom and a small separate bedroom for Garp. Outside the cabin was a small shack where Garp kept all the tools for gardening and crafting. There was also an underground cellar under the cabin, where all the food and wood was kept.

Garp climbed up the stairs and told the brothers to follow him. They reached the kitchen when Luffy rushed in through the backdoor. His hair was already a disaster and he had leaves and sticks sticking out of it. Ace began to laugh at the sight, Sabo smiled and helped Luffy to get rid of them.

"Okay boys, here's the plan: First we will eat and catch up, then we will go and say hi to Dadan, tomorrow we'll be doing some work around the area - _yes_ we will be gardening Ace, no need to give me that look - and later in the evening I'm going over to Dadan's. She's having a gathering among a few friends- _yes_ Sabo, I _too_ have friends- that means you three are alone for tomorrow evening, so make sure to behave. I don't want to come back and find that the whole place is ripped down just because you three had had an argument over a piece of meat - _yes_ Luffy, _I do_ remember that one time."

The three boys were snickering, throwing glances at each other. Garp rolled his eyes and closed his right hand into a fist. The fist collided with the trio's heads, causing them to fall on the floor with groans and whimpers.

The old man grinned and began to prepare the food, while the three brothers took their time to collect themselves from the floor.

"Brats."

Sabo followed Luffy outside, the boy had found a nest by a tree and wanted to show it to him. It was late Autumn already but according to Luffy it still had eggs in it. Ace yawned, he went for the fridge to see if there was anything to drink.

"So, how you doing Ace?"

"Eh, school is already tiring as shit and it's only been a couple of months since it began again", Ace took the knife from the counter and began to peel the the potatoes Garp had left in the sink. Might as well help the old man.

"Bwahaha, sounds about right!"

"Glad that at least _one_ of us is happy about the piles of homework I have waiting for me back home…"

"Does Sabo have the same problem?"

"...he does his homework during lectures, I tried doing that but got lost and fell asleep."

"What about Luffy? He seems a little tired."

Ace frowned, looking up from the potatoes and through the window to the back yard where Luffy was playing with Sabo. The older teen was smiling and grinning so hard Ace feared he'd pull a muscle. Sabo had really missed playing with Luffy.

"Luffy? That's impossible, I mean _sure_ he has been playing those goddamn video games all this time and hasn't come out of his room, but he's fine!" Too fine, Ace continued in his head. He rolled his eyes when Garp shot him a questionable look. "Seriously, you're worrying too much, old man."

"Hmm…" Garp put the stove on, "If you say so, Ace."

Luffy ran inside with Sabo close behind, both of them exhausted from the running and playing. The blond took the younger in the bathroom to wash his hands before they too began to help preparing the food.

The cooking was entertaining to say at least. In the end Garp had kicked the trio out of his kitchen so they'd have at least something to eat that week. Ace landed on the sofa, Sabo jumped next to him and Luffy fell on top of them. They wrestled for the TV remote, until Sabo claimed his victory and put on the TV. Luffy dozed off at some point, Ace following close behind. He had been on his new medication for a month now and it was always hard to change the brand. So far he had fallen asleep during one of his lectures and in the middle of his shower but as of late, his narcolepsy hadn't hit him while he was driving or kept him awake at night.

Sabo felt bad for waking the two up when Garp called them to eat. Luffy rolled off their laps onto the floor and had to be dragged to the dinner table. Ace at least used his own feet for once.

Once they had eaten and washed the dishes, Garp began to lead them to Dadan's. The old forest path had almost been taken over by the undergrowth and vegetation. Still, the four of them knew the way even with their eyes closed. Luffy bounced on his feet when Garp knocked on the door, throwing himself at the red-haired woman who came to open the door. The woman pulled the other two teens into a hug too, her eyes watering a little. Garp had pointed that out but them woman had only thrown him a dirty look and told him to be quiet because she was having a moment with her boys.

The evening went peacefully.  
The boys caught up with Dadan and once they were done, Luffy ran off to play with Pochi, Dadan's old dog. Ace soon joined him outside the cabin. Sabo stayed with Garp and Dadan, but soon he too grew tired of the two adults throwing good natured insults at each others and joined his brothers outside the house.

The sky darkened and when the sun had finally gone down, Garp decided it was time to leave. They thanked Dadan, who told them to come and visit her again since it got boring without them around. Pochi barked and gave the boys affectionate licks on their hands before he skipped inside the house, probably to sleep.

When they were back in their cabin, the three brothers climbed up to the second floor and fell onto their beds like stones. Ace was the first to fall asleep, Sabo and Luffy snickered when they heard the first snores.

Sabo didn't remember when he had closed his eyes or drifted to sleep but he woke up when something shook his shoulder. He raised his head from the pillow, everything was hazy and unclear to him, the room was so dark. He couldn't see out the window, it was probably the middle of the night.

"Sabo?" came a hushed whisper from the darkness. He blinked his eyes, trying to see who it was.

"Mmh?"

"Can I sleep with you?" the disembodied voice whispered, an additional weight dipped the mattress.

"Mnn sure", his head hit the pillow and he was dead to the world. When he woke up in the morning, there was no one sleeping next to him and he wondered if it had been just a dream. Ace's bed was empty and Luffy laid sprawled on his bed, feet dangling off the mattress. He sighed, it was probably just a dream.

 **xxxxxx**

"Okay boys, new plan."

Garp stood in front of the couch, arms crossed over his chest. Ace threw Sabo a glance, the other shrugged. Luffy 'sat' between them, legs dangling over the back rest. The rain rattled against the windows, the soothing noise filling the cabin.

"Since it's raining and no one wants to get sick, we're staying inside for the rest of the day. Most of the gardening is almost done anyway."

"Well, that goes without saying", Sabo muttered, Ace chuckled. Luffy swung his legs, looking as bored as always. He drummed his stomach with his fingers, shrieking when Ace poked his side. He grabbed the offending hand and seemed to be thinking about something.

"Is it going to thunder later?" he asked, looking up to his brothers. Ace gave it a thought before he shook his head. "Okay."

"Any ideas what we should do?"

"Read?"

Ace eyed the bookcase by the TV stand with great distaste. He had nothing against books but the ones they had here were absolute garbage. He glanced over to Sabo who shared the same thoughts with him, the blond sneered at the thought of reading the stinky old novels. Garp saw their expressions.

"Hey now! Those books are from my teenage years! They're quite good once you've gotten into them!"

"Then why don't you read them?" Ace shot back, Sabo wore a matching grin with his brother. Garp found the ceiling suddenly very interesting.

"I would but it's almost the time for me to go to Dadan's so…"

A snore interrupted the man, all three looked down to see Luffy fast asleep. Ace rolled his eyes and with Sabo's help, he rotated Luffy on their laps. Sabo fixed the boy's clothes, it could get quite cold inside the cabin without the fireplace or the heater on. Ace played with the boy's hair, raising his eyebrow at the dark circles around Luffy's eyes. Since when had those been there?

"Oh look at the time, I must go now!" Garp had gone in the kitchen and gone through the fridge, then to his bedroom where his _secret_ alcohol stash was. With a wave of his free hand, Garp was out of the cabin through the back door. The two followed the man's running in the rain through the window. Soon the old man disappeared behind the bushes and trees.

Silence fell inside the cabin, the rain loud in their ears.

Ace rubbed his eyes, glancing down at their sleeping brother. He grinned, Sabo turned his eyes to him, a similar smirk on his face.

"We're alone now. Should we start preparing the _prank_?"

"Right after you, brother dearest."

* * *

When Luffy woke up the whole house was dark and quiet.  
The rain hit the windows hard, he looked up in the darkness as if the ceiling was to fall on him from the pure force of the rain. The young teen sat up slowly, blinking in the darkness. The house felt colder than before, Luffy shivered.

Slowly, he pushed himself off the sofa and felt his way around it. The faint light coming from outside helped him to the windows but everything beyond that was dark, he could barely make out the shapes of the furniture around him. His fingers found the hem of his t-shirt, he played with it as he listened to his own erratic breathing in the darkness. He listened for any sort of noise but all he could hear past the rain was his own breathing. He wrapped his hoodie tighter around himself as he began to wander carefully around the house.

"G-guys?" his voice came out as a whisper. When there was no answer, he swallowed the dread that was caught in his throat and took another tentative step towards the kitchen. He felt his way to the fridge and moved his hand along its side, finding the wall and the light switch right next to it. He flipped it up and frowned. He flipped it back down, then up again - nothing. To make sure it wasn't just the light switch, he grabbed the handle on the fridge's door and pulled it open. There was no blinding bright light meeting him in the half way or a cold breeze.

Chewing his lip, Luffy turned to look over to where he believed the counter was. There should be a microwave on there somewhere. He couldn't see the green number lights anywhere on the counter.

The power was out.

"Ace?" Luffy looked around in the darkness, eyes frantically trying to find something, _anything_! He needed to find some sort of a light source to navigate his way through the house. "Ace?!" He cried out, panic settling in his gut. " _Sabo?!_ "

He rushed forward, scrambling when his foot got stuck under the rug. Across the kitchen was Garp's room, he felt his way to the door and knocked on it. "Gramps?" He pushed the door but the room was quiet and he saw nothing.

"Is _anyone_ in here?" he called out, hand gripping the handle tightly. He sighed when there was nothing, he was alone. Alone inside a small cabin, in the middle of the woods and in the middle of nowhere. He doubted his phone worked here, although he could use it as the light source!

As a weird noise coming from upstairs startled him, Luffy spun around in the darkness. Someone was walking on top of him, he turned to look at the stairs next to him. The second floor was partly above the kitchen and Gramps' room, the stairs descended right next to the bedroom door.

He stepped away from the doorway to go further into the kitchen to see if he'd see anyone on the upper floor. The railing worked as a wall, otherwise the floor would be too dark to be in. It didn't have any outlets or lamps, only one circular window.

Suddenly something grabbed his ankle and Luffy fell face first on the floor with a yelp. The grip was hard and he turned his head look over his shoulder. Had his pant leg gotten stuck to some nail or something?

Groaning caught him by surprise.  
From the faint light coming from the bedroom window behind the door, Luffy could make out an arm sticking out of the doorway, the hand was gripping his ankle. The groaning grew louder as the door opened slowly, the hinges creaking loudly.

Suddenly something fell down the stairs right next to him, hitting his side as it rolled on the floor before it stopped.  
It felt warm and when he touched it with his shaking fingers, they got wet. The smell of iron hit his nose and his whole body began to shake. The floorboards on the second floor creaked under weight and Luffy could hear someone slowly coming down the stairs. The wooden stairs creaked every time someone stepped on them.

His whole body was frozen in the darkness, an invisible hand had a tight grip around his heart, the cold numbing his body. His mind was racing but he couldn't think of anything, many different emotions ran through him, panic finally settling in.

He _needed_ to **get out**.

Get out as fast as he could and as far as he could.  
No looking back, he'd _run back home_ if he had to.

Another creak had him jump, he gripped the rug under him.

Why was he still on the floor when he needed to move?! Luffy tried to get to his knees, but he was pulled right back down. His, his legs wouldn't listen to him! They couldn't carry him! And his hands… They shook under his weight, they were numb and felt strange - like they weren't his?!

A clatter from the top of the stairs had him turn his blinded attention back to the stairs. It was coming down! It was probably at the middle of the stairs already! Breath caught in his throat, Luffy's eyes moved frantically in the darkness.

He… He _needed_ to move!

His breath came out as a weird wheeze and he sucked in a quick breath. He was breathing too fast and erratically, it sounded weird in his ears. All the noises sounded so loud in the darkness.

Too concentrated on the stairs, he was too slow to realize the hand around his ankle was now on his knee, but when his other ankle was grabbed as well, he shrieked. The groaning came from his feet, heavy weight settling on his legs.

He screamed and yelled from the top of his lungs, struggling and kicking whatever was down in his feet. He hit something solid and pushed himself up from the floor. He dashed forward, not caring where he ended up as long as _he'd get_ _ **away**_ _._

He fell when he forgot there were a couple of stairs between the kitchen and the dining room. His ankle ached but he had no time to mind about that. He suck it up and ran straight to the front door, hands trying to find the handle.

The groaning came closer, as well as the heavy steps.

They were _right behind him!_  
And the front door was locked! Luffy glanced over his shoulder, the shapes of the two horrifying creatures distinguished in the faint light. Dread was weighing down his gut and his hands felt numb, making harder for him to open the _stupid lock!_

The one by the end of the stairs turned to move down the kitchen to the hallway where he was with the other creature on the floor. Luffy's eyes darted between the two things. The one on the floor kept dragging itself towards him, hands reaching for him.

It moved slowly, but by every drag it got closer to him. It kept making groaning sounds from the back of its throat and it had a small, old sack tied over its head. Shackles around its ankles rattled against the floor as it kept dragging its body towards him.

The other thing had now descended onto the first floor, right by the Shackled thing. It moved lazily and unevenly, keeping its head lowered.

Luffy swallowed hard, his blood rushed through his veins and everything was muted to him. His heart was hammering in his chest when he finally took a proper hold of the lock and turned it, but it was _jammed_! A high pitched whine left him when he realized he wouldn't get out through the front door.

He spun around when the felt someone touch him. The tall creature was right in front of him. He could hear its breathing, he'd smell the dirt on its clothes. A smell of iron hit his nose and he wanted to barf. It _stinked_ , it made his eyes water.

He dashed to the side, hitting the wall and continuing forward, leaping over the dining table and up to the kitchen. The other thing on the floor laid on the three stairs, hands reaching for his ankles. The teen yelped when it caught him by his pant leg, sending him face first to the floor. He kicked the thing before it got to grab him higher, removing his hoodie and threw it at it, hoping to confuse it for a moment.

Luffy ran straight into the separate counter at the middle of the kitchen. He cursed as he nursed his midsection, he had no time for this! The tall thing was slow but he'd hear it reaching the stairs.

The backdoor was right in front of him and he made a mad dash for the handle - to find it was unlocked!

Luffy threw the door open and was out of the cabin in a blink of an eye. He ran down the porch stairs and across the slippery backyard. Ignoring his aching cold feet, Luffy ran into the dark forest. He didn't look back even once as he got farther and farther away from the house, blood pumping loudly in his ears.

The cold rain muted everything around him, covering up his tracks as the rain came harder and the forest got thicker.

 **xxxxxx**

Ace was laughing.

He could hear Sabo chuckling behind him. The other moved around, going down to the basement to put the fuse back on. When Sabo came back up to see Ace grinning widely on the floor, the sack lying farther away with a yellow cloth.

The blond shook his head, he felt a little bad.

"Oh man, that was, haha, _amazing_!"

"I don't know Ace… He seemed really upset." Sabo muttered, the look on his baby brother's pale face would haunt him in his dreams. Oh and how he had wanted to call off the prank when he heard Luffy cry for him! He had sounded really scared.

"That's the point!" Ace stood up, brushing the dust off him, he spared his brother a glance. "Hey no need to be worried! He will be fine! Probably hiding in Gramps' room, I heard the door open. You look _awesome_ in that costume though."

"Thanks! I gotta hand it to you though, you scared the shit out of me with that Grudge impression", Sabo removed the cape and took off the old farming clothes he had borrowed from the shack outside. They were all Garp's, and hung on him making him look bigger. His eyes fell on the hoodie again, finally recognizing it.

"Hey… Isn't that the hoodie Lu's been wearing today?"

"Huh?" Ace looked down, noticing the hoodie himself now. He had thought it was some random cloth the teen had found lying around. "I think it is…"

"Luffy?" the blond called, listening for any signs of he boy. He frowned when he heard none. "Luffy, it's us! There's nothing to be afraid of!"

Sabo was looking around the house now, frantically going through every possible place the youngest teen could be hiding in. Ace fished the hoodie from the floor and anxiously waited for Sabo to come down from the second floor. Hadn't he heard a door open? He had assumed it was Garp's room but… Ace went to check on the small bedroom, he flipped the lightswitch but found the room empty. A cold breeze hit his face and he turned to see that the back door was open. "S-Sabo.."

"He's not up here, Ace! You've got an idea where he'd be? Is he in Gramps' room after all-"

" _Sabo!_ "

The blond teen rushed to the railing, looking down to Ace. The other stared at him pointing the back door, which was _open_. His face had gone pale, freckles standing out. Sabo stared the door, the realization hit him like a train.

He jumped over the railing, running to get their shoes as Ace ran up to get their coats.

"He's not wearing his shoes, Ace!"

"Tch, did that idiot go barefoot?!" Ace cussed half-heartedly, throwing the other's coat over the railing. He got down and began to pull on his shoes as Sabo was bouncing on his feet, throwing Ace looks to hurry the hell up. He had two flashlights in his hands, he gave the other one to Ace.

The two were out of the door and rushing into the forest as fast as they could. They would clean up the place once they had retrieved their little brother.

* * *

"Can you see him?!" Sabo yelled over the rain, he shielded his eyes with his arms as he stared after Ace, who was looking through bushes. The other shook his head and pointed forward. They had been running for quite a while now, with no sight of their brother. They had had to split up at some point so they'd cover more field, when they met an hour later, both of them had been hopeful the other would have found something. Unfortunately, this hadn't happened.

"We're almost at the main road!" Sabo pointed the road lights and the high fence behind the branches and bushes. A car drove by, headlights blinding them as it passed them. Sabo shook in fear, what if Luffy had climbed up the fence and was walking down the road? The rain was too thick for the drivers to see him farther away! He'd be.. _Oh god.._.

"What is that twerp up to, is he planning to _walk back home?_!" Ace exclaimed, frustration and anxiety making his emotions to flare up. Once they had found Luffy, he'd hit him and have a word with him about worrying them like this. Then again, it was _their fault_ Luffy had run off in the first place… _Ace_ had come up with the plan himself… dragged Sabo in it…

"Agh, how could I be so dumb!"

Sabo looked over to see Ace hit himself in the head. He rolled his eyes. He licked his dry lips, then cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled from the top of his lungs: "LUFFY?!"

"WHERE ARE YOU!?"

" _LUFFY!_ "

 **xxxxxx**

Luffy shivered from the cold, wrapping his thin arms tighter around himself as he looked around through his heavy eyelids. He had been running a while and was exhausted. Every time he tried to take a deep breath, a series of violent coughs came out instead.

He was hiding inside a big tree he had found. He had no idea how much time had passed but it had to be late in the evening. The sky was too dark and the forest felt eerie. The familiar warmth from the day was gone along with the birds and animals, it had gotten too quiet. The air was too cold, although he couldn't feel any difference. Luffy sneezed, rubbing his hands along his arms to warm up his body at least a little bit.

Where were Ace and Sabo?

The young teen sniffed, hiding his face in his knees. He missed his brothers, he missed Gramps!

The rain had gotten too hard and made it hard for him to see ahead. He felt sleepy, the raindrops hitting the bark had almost lulled him to sleep when he heard a voice.

"-FY!"

"LUFFY _PLEASE_! COME BACK!"

Roused from the yells, surprisingly close by, he dragged himself out of the tree. He coughed and looked around, his vision swimming. His ankle ached and his throat was sore from all the screaming. His whole body was tired and he wanted to go home and cry. Hide underneath the covers and _never_ come out.

The voices sounded familiar, and too tired to care anymore, Luffy used the tree to stand up. He took tentative steps, minding his left ankle. The shouts didn't come from too far, he tried to answer them but all he got out was a series of coughs. His lungs burned.  
He saw something moving in front of him when his feet gave out under him and he fell. But instead hitting the ground, two pairs of arms caught him and lifted him up. He was held against a solid chest and he'd hear someone calling his name urgently. He'd recognize the voices as his brothers and the thought of them finding him lulled him to sleep.

 **xxx**

Sabo wanted to cry as he stared the shivering teen in his arms. He took his left arm from underneath Luffy and put the back of his palm on the boy's forehead, only to pull it away almost immediately. "He's burning up!"

Ace was frozen to the spot, his eyes glued to the feverish flush on his baby brother's face. He bit his lip when his shaky hands felt the boy's hot cheeks. They _needed_ to get him back to the cabin!

Sabo stood up, cradling the smaller body against his chest, Ace's hands hovered over the boy, not knowing what to do. He removed his coat quickly and threw it over Luffy's body, adjusting it to cover most of the shivering body. The blond secured his hold around the smaller teen and glanced at his brother, who nodded.

Ace began to lead the way back to the cabin.  
They ran as fast as they could, Ace finding a safe path for them to use and pushing the bushes and branches out of the other's way. He spared his brother a glance, Sabo was biting his lip hard and his face was uncharacteristically serious. It would have freaked him out but given the circumstances, he chose to stay quiet. There was nothing funny about this.

The way back felt long, like they had been running for hours.  
Ace was a bit out of breath and he believed Sabo was too, but his brother wouldn't show it. He was too scared, too frightened of the situation _they_ had _created_ together. Ace couldn't blame him, _he_ had come up with this and _dragged_ Sabo in it.

"There!" he exclaimed when the familiar porch lights shone behind the thick vegetation. The two pushed forward and stopped to gather their breaths once they were in the backyard. They didn't hear the door open but then Garp appeared in their vision, eyes wide and his mouth hung open.

"What in the-"

Sabo dashed past Garp and straight inside the house. Garp stared after him, eyebrow raised in question. "Was that… _Luffy?_ "

Ace's legs had given out under him and he was on all fours on the grass. The rain had drenched him completely and he finally felt how cold it really was outside. A violent sneeze wrecked his body.

"Ace! What the hell happened here!?" Garp was crouching in front of him, his large hand over his back. He helped Ace up and inside the house, where a chaos awaited for them.

Sabo had dropped their wet coats on the kitchen floor and from the small puddles on the floor, he had taken Luffy straight to the bathroom.

Ace stood in the kitchen, not knowing what to do.  
Garp was picking up the wet clothes from the floor and after putting them away, he went to check on the other two.

He stayed in the bathroom for quite a while and when he finally came out, Ace flinched under the harsh eyes. The old man marched straight to him and grabbed him by his shoulders. He could see the worry and disappointment in his eyes, a vein pulsated on the side of his face.

" _You_ stay _here_ ", Garp's voice was strained, like he was stopping himself from screaming at him. Ace could only nod and follow the man's back out of the back door. He was going over to Dadan's, the woman was a midwife. She'd know how to handle these kind of situations - _hopefully_.

Sleepy muttering caught him off guard and Ace turned back to see Sabo helping a very drowsy Luffy up into the kitchen. The boy was limping, worrying his left foot. Ace caught the sight of it and winced when he saw how red and swollen the ankle was. Sabo pulled out a bar stool for the boy and helped him to sit on the stool by the separate counter. The boy wore a bathrobe, which was way too big for him, and a towel around his blond went to put the kettle on and put a mug in front of the boy, dropping a tea ball in it.

Ace felt helpless, he just stood there and watched his brother deal with the mess they had created. The mess _he_ had created. He swallowed thickly when he heard Luffy sneeze and cough, burying himself deeper in the robe. Sabo ran around the small cabin, cleaning out everything they had left behind. Ace couldn't look at them without feeling a pang of guilt in his chest.

The kettle whistled and both of the dark haired teens jumped, Luffy's wide and fearful eyes looking around to see what was going to attack him this time. Another powerful pang shook Ace and he wished the earth could just swallow him now.

Sabo appeared from the small bedroom, gracefully pouring boiling water in the cup. His eyes landed on Ace and he raised his eyebrow at how pale the other looked.

Luffy drank the tea slowly, hands greedily seeking the warmth of the mug. His eyes never left the mug, not even when he swayed and almost fell back on the stool. Sabo was at the other side of the counter, putting the kettle away when he heard Ace's exclaim and the stool creak against the floorboards. He whipped around and saw Luffy laying on Ace's arms, sleeping while clutching the empty mug in his hands.

The two older brothers exchanged worried looks.

"You should take him up and put him in bed."

"Uh, are there any clothes for him to wear?"

"Just, just take whatever seems warm and fresh, I don't mind if you use mine. You should take a shower too."

Ace nodded and climbed upstairs, he heard Sabo roaming in the kitchen and then disappear into the bathroom.  
Luffy had no warm clothes at all. All he had were shorts and tanktops, and one t-shirt, which he happened to be wearing today. Ace wanted to sigh and curse the other but he had no heart to do so. He laid Luffy on one of the three beds and started to go through his and Sabo's bags for clothes. He found a pair of pants and a blue jumper, courtesy of Sabo and his love for blue things. He found some socks to finish off the job and threw the covers over the clothed boy.

Luffy would probably have a bad case of a flu by the morning, but hopefully nothing major. Ace rubbed his neck as his mind raced through all the possibilities that could happen. He didn't like any of them.

Sabo appeared upstairs, fresh from the shower and looking for fresh clothes he'd wear. Ace took it as his cue to move downstairs and in the bathroom.

Through the shower, he thought he'd hear the door open and loud voices coming from the kitchen, he paused the water to hear what was going on.

He'd hear Garp and Dadan, then there was Sabo trying to get the other two to be quiet. He closed his eyes as he put the water back on. As if the situation wasn't bad enough, he'd have to face those two. He didn't want to but... it was _his_ responsibility.

* * *

Dadan frowned at the thermometer, her hand in Luffy's hair. The boy had a fever, a high one too but thank the gods it wasn't too high for the boy to be taken to the hospital. She eyed the teen's swollen ankle she had propped up with a pillow.

"Put some ice on that and make sure you keep him warm. He won't be happy to wake up in the morning, I will bring you some ointment to rub on his chest to help him breath more easily - also keep his head up or he'll be coughing the whole night", Dadan pulled the covers back over the boy. Garp sat at the end of the bed, a sullen look on his face. Ace and Sabo stood by the bed, both looking equally as embarrassed and mad at themselves.

"Is he… is he going to be alright, Dadan?" Sabo asked carefully, afraid to look up from his brother's flushed face. The ragged and heavy breathing sounded really bad.

"More or less, I doubt he can eat properly for the next few days which will make him mad and he will feel crappy. He's bedridden for the next few days and if the fever doesn't go down by Tuesday morning, you should take him to the hospital."

The mention of a hospital shook the two older teens, they exchanged frightened looks but refused to meet the elders' eyes. Garp sighed and rubbed his face.

" _What_ on _earth..._ possessed you two _to do such a thing?!_ I thought you two were the smarter ones!" he exclaimed, standing up from the bed. He grabbed the two teens by their shirts and shook them, the teens had their mouths clamped shut. Garp shook his head and turned his attention to Sabo.

"Sabo, I thought better of you. You have always been the _responsible one_ and it really eased up my worrying to know _you_ were looking out for the two blockheads instead of me. I'd expect this from either Ace or Luffy but from _you_? I'm _very disappointed_ in you _,_ Sabo."

Sabo was glaring the floor with his eyes full of tears, refusing to let them fall. His face was red from the embarrassment and anger. Ace could only stare at him in awe, his own eyes stinging from the hate he felt towards himself.

It all took a quiet sob from Sabo to break whatever it was that had kept Ace silent for this long:

"It was me!"

Garp raised his eyebrows at the sudden exclamation, looking down to Ace. Sabo's head hung low as the sobs finally wrecked his body, tears falling down to the floor.

"I, we, I wanted to prank him! Ever since he started to play those stupid horror games he's been pulling stupid and scary pranks on us. I had had enough and I…"

"Wanted him to have a taste of his own medicine", Garp finished what Ace was about to say, and sighed. He let go of the teens, ruffling Sabo's hair. The blond teen sniffed and wiped his face into his sleeve, still refusing to look up from the floor.

Ace nodded quietly, too ashamed to look anyone in the eyes: "Sorry…"

"Boys, it's not me who you'd be apologizing to", Garp stepped aside and pointed the unconscious boy under the many layers of blankets. "It's him."

"You boys are so complicated", Dadan muttered to herself, her hand still in Luffy's hair. "Didn't it come to your mind that you could have talked with him?"

"Uh", Ace looked away. Sabo stared at his toes.

Dadan sighed and rubbed her tired eyes.

"When he wakes up, you three really should talk about this. Because if it's anything like what he told me yesterday, I think you two owe him a big apology among many other things."

Garp shot her a peculiar look, "What do you mean?"

"Luffy was _terrified_ of those games. He didn't want to play them but he couldn't turn down his friend's offer."

Ace and Sabo looked up from the floor, sharing the same confused look which melted as the two began to take a grasp on what the woman meant. That's what it all was!

Why Luffy always seemed so jumpy and scared when they came in the room! His behavior and the dark circles around his eyes, why he was so tired all the time.. It all made sense! Ace slapped himself for not noticing it sooner, Sabo shared the same intention in his mind. And they were supposed to be brothers...

"The games kept him up at night and he was too embarrassed to go in one of your rooms to sleep with you two. He kept doing those pranks to see if it was just him or were you scared of them too."

Luffy muttered something incoherent and turned to his side, the cold towel fell from his forehead, which Dadan then fixed.

"He finally quit when he noticed how unamused and mad you got, and then you two began to ignore him. He was pretty excited to be here again because he got to play with you two", she stood up, fixing the teen's covers once more. She looked over to the two older teens, whose jaws hung in the air.

"I'm going home now, it's late and I still have two wine bottles to drink. I'll visit you again later tomorrow, after I've survived from my hangover."

Garp walked her downstairs, leaving the three on their own. Sabo was the first one to move. He pushed his bed together with Luffy's and went to lie underneath the covers. He turned to his side, facing Luffy.

His mind circled around the previous night when he had been woken up by someone, who wanted to sleep with him. It had been _Luffy_. He threw his arm over the blankets and wrapped it around the boy, allowing him to snuggle closer to him if he wanted to.

He was almost asleep when he felt the beds shake and another arm wrapped itself around the sick boy. Ace said nothing as he grabbed one of the blankets covering Luffy, gripping it hard in his hand.

Amused by his brother's protective nature, Sabo closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 **xxxxx**

Somewhere during the night, both Ace and Sabo were roused awake by the series of coughs coming from the person between them. Luffy had woken up and had been coughing for gods knew how long. Ace jumped up and ran downstairs to get him water, while Sabo helped the boy sit and patted his back.

When Ace came back, they helped the boy to drink the water and back in the bed. Luffy stayed quiet under the covers and they thought he had fallen asleep. But then there was a raspy whisper that almost broke Sabo's heart:

"I'm sorry…"

Even in the darkness, Sabo could feel Ace staring at him for answers he didn't have. He tried to come up with some but couldn't. "Luffy, we-"

"We're sorry… we scared you and drove you away. This was our fault and we're so, so sorry.." Ace's voice was tight and they'd tell he was about to cry. "I'm _so sorry, Luffy..!_ "

"I'm sorry, Luffy, I.. I should have realized sooner, I should have checked on you more frequently, or _talked_ with you…! and last night, I didn't-"

Both of the older brothers were yanked down before they'd continue. They hit the covers with an uff and curiously peered over them to see Luffy trying to smile through the fever and aches.

He had forgiven them.

Luffy really was something neither of them deserved. Sabo chuckled and Ace wiped his eyes, shooting the other a warning look if he ever brought this up, he'd pay. The older brother pulled their cover over them and joined Luffy in the bed, all three falling asleep with stupid grins on their faces.

 _~fin~_

* * *

 **Reviews are nice :3c**

 **see you again next time!**


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